


The Survivor

by reaperlight



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ashes Scene in Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, IronDad and SpiderSon, Major Character Undeath, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Peter is venom, Peter-centric, Revenge, Self-Indulgent, Symbiote Spiderman, The Venom Symbiote Is A Good Goo-Monster, Therapy For Infinity War Spoilers, he protecc he atacc he eat purple snacc, screw canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-07-06 09:18:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15883113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reaperlight/pseuds/reaperlight
Summary: While in space Peter makes a new friend.





	1. Chapter 1

Peter landed roughly on the cave floor, a Chitauri energy spear jutting out of his side. 

He promptly blacked out. 

Behind a panel of reinforced glass an alien intelligence stirred, awakened from its ancient slumber. Highly empathic, it could not help but sense the other lifeform even when silent in unconsciousness. The pain this other being, this _human_ felt was all but screaming. 

Peter groaned. 

Fate was cruel because he apparently had woken up again. 

He’d failed. 

Mr. Stark had trusted him and he’d failed. 

He’d tried to hold them off. He was supposed to just watch that gate. Stark probably wasn’t expecting a legion of Chitauri to come through that way. Peter had tried to hold them off by himself, trusting in his spider-sense to keep him from harm but there were so many of them.

_Too many of them._

He’d been overwhelmed and in the end, he’d sensed it coming but hadn’t been fast enough. 

He’d been stabbed through the chest and then blasted through the floor for good measure. 

And now he was here, laying in his own blood, in what appeared to be an ancient dungeon of some kind. 

He was going to die here, he was sure of it. 

A black mass suddenly pressed up against what appeared to be a glass cage beside him.

Peter startled and pulled back, jostling the spear and bringing with it a fresh wave of pain and bleeding. 

The black mass congealed into a face with pupilless white blotches for eyes and too many teeth. 

Maybe he was delirious but with its tongue lolling out and it’s “head” quirked to the side Peter thought it almost resembled a dog, a very gooey dog.

It was kind of cute, really, once you got over the slime and too many teeth. 

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me in here, buddy.” 

No help was coming, no one even knew he was down here, and it occurred to him that this scary-cute alien was probably the last thing he’d ever see. 

At least he wouldn’t die alone. ( _Crushed under the rubble, no help coming, no one was coming. Come on, Spider-man. Come on—_ ) 

Miraculously, the creature seemed to understand. A tentacle reached out and gently moved against the surface of the glass and though the creature was very alien in every sense of the word, Peter took it to be an attempt at comfort. 

Peter wondered how long this poor creature had been trapped down here… 

This was probably a stupid idea. Hell, there might even be a very good reason it was trapped in there. Then again, this was a prison in enemy territory, suggesting that whoever or whatever this being was, at least it wasn’t a friend of Thanos. 

Peter blamed the blood loss for the impulsive decision, but then if it was a mistake, he probably wouldn’t live long enough to regret it. 

Peter swung his fist back and broke the glass. 

The creature quickly oozed out from its prison yet it remained near the dying human who had saved it. 

“Well, go on then, be free,” Peter laughed, coughing up blood. Hell, the creature was probably going to eat him now. Not that it made much difference given that he was dying anyway. “Just do me a favor will you and eat some of the Black Order too, won’t you?” 

After a moment of hesitation it tentatively laid a tendril on his shoulder.

Peter looked at it warily. “What do you want?” 

**_“To live.”_**

At first the creature didn’t _speak_ so much as projected images and concepts (that Peter hadn’t initially understood, thinking them to be hallucinations brought on by blood loss) but upon touching him, it seemed the creature was picking up his language quickly. 

But Peter had understood that. 

“Me too, but it’s… it’s too late. Too late for me. _I was such an idiot._ ” 

Stark was right. He should have stayed close to the ground. He should have never left Earth... 

The creature seemed to frown. **“Can help.”**

Peter felt his heart stop. He exhaled what he thought would be his last breath. 

The creature slithered into his wound. 

Peter gasped, convulsing as the creature restarted his heart. He could _feel it,_ slithering around inside of him, repairing the damage. (Making itself at home.) 

Peter hissed in pain as the creature pushed the spear out from the inside.

 ** _Sorry._** It hissed inside his brain even as it worked to stop the bleeding and closing the breech in his flesh. 

It was still inside him. 

_Oh shit! Oh SHIT! Have I just been body snatched?_

**_“Snatching? No! No snatching!”_**

_And you can hear my thoughts too?! Okay, officially freaking out now. You healed me, yes?_ Whatever this thing was, it has just brought him back from the brink of death. _Thank you for that, but—_

**_Welcome._ **

_But... Uh, what are you doing in there?!_

**_Stay here._**

_Oh no no no no no!_

**_Why not?!_ **

Peter flinched; he could taste the creature’s despair and felt an undercurrent of anger. 

_Look, I’m no ungrateful for your help it’s just… you’re inside me. That’s not normal!_

_**Normal for me. Symbiote. Need a partner.**_ It explained. 

_“A… partner?”_

_**“Yes. Partner! No snatching. Help Peter? Help each other. Protect you! Just want to live! Stay with you? …Please?”**_

Peter felt it then, the loneliness of countless eons trapped in that stupid, shitty jar, the awe and gratitude at being freed, the strong desire to protect his new friend… 

Peter closed his eyes. “I hope I don’t regret this… Okay. You can stay.” 

Peter felt the wave of elation from the creature as if it were his own. 

Just then the entire prison shook, reminding Peter that the battle still raged on above and, thanks to his new friend, he wasn’t dying anymore. He had to get back up there. Stark was counting on him. 

Peter quickly discovered he couldn’t just climb the wall back up the way he’d come—there was a huge gap of distance from the walls of the ancient prison to the hole in the ceiling far above which couldn’t be covered by weblines or leaping. 

Shit, had he really fallen so far? 

No wonder it had hurt so much. 

The only way out was behind a thick armored reinforced alien door, which clearly hadn’t been moved in eons, that blocked the way. 

Just by looking at it Peter knew there was no way he could possibly move that. 

_Dammit, where’s the Hulk when you need him?_

Peter gave the door an experimental shove and followed up with an experimental kick and only proved his initial hypothesis when he stubbed his toe. 

“Sorry buddy, it looks like we’re still trapped in here.” 

**_Can help._**

“How? I mean, I’m open to ideas…”

**_Make stronger. Trust usss?_ **

Peter shrugged. At this point, what did he have to lose? “…Okay.”

Peter felt the symbiote slithering beneath his skin, strengthening the muscles and reinforcing the bone. 

**_Try now._**

Peter punched the door. 

It barely moved, but it _moved._

The symbiote set to work and his arms noticeably bulked up further. 

**_Again._**

Peter tried again. The door creaked open a little bit more. 

The symbiote set to work again.

**_Again!_ **

On the third try the ancient door shattered. 

_“Woah._ That’s _incredible!_ ” 

Inside his head the other consciousness preened. 

Peter stepped out the door and was immediately confronted by a hoard of Chitauri. 

When a sparking spear-thing came whizzing towards his eye the Symbiote enveloped his head and the spear was crushed harmlessly in their fangs when they chomped down. 

_**We protect.**_

_**Protect Peter.**_

_**Protect Peter’s friends.** _

_And innocent people!_

**_Yes. Innocentsss._**

**_Protect innocentsss. Hurt bad guys! Rip, tear guts out!_**

Normally Peter would disagree—he didn’t want to hurt anyone—but Mr. Stark had impressed upon him (and he had recently learned firsthand) that these guys weren’t playing around. They would kill him if given the chance. 

They _did_ kill him. 

The only reason he was alive was... 

**Hurt bad guys who hurt Peter!**

_…Yes. They hurt my friends too. My friends are still up there!_

**_Our friends. Protect Peter’s friends!_**

_Thank you._ Still… _Try not to kill anyone._

**_But they kill everyone? They kill Planetsss?!_ **

_…Please._

**_…Try._** The symbiote reluctantly agreed. 

They nodded. That had to be good enough for now. 

It's not like he didn't have experience in reigning in a partner's murderous impulses with KAREN's constant attempts to activate Insta-kill. (Peter took a moment to mourn the loss of his A.I. The Iron Spider suit had been damaged early on in the battle when Peter had come across a particularly nasty bad guy and ended up getting thrown through a wall.)

Peter stepped over the (hopefully just unconscious) Chitauri that they had put on the ground. 

***

Peter froze in shock upon seeing a fearsome figure in black with a white spider emblazoned on its chest and back. It took Peter a moment to realize they were seeing his… their own reflection. 

They’d clearly reached the upper levels now, leaving the dank dungeon-like atmosphere and now back to the whole space aesthetic with grandiose statues and polished metal walls. 

**_That us?_ **

Peter swallowed, **“Yeah.”** He nearly jumped at that. Even his voice had changed! 

**_Who are we?_ **

**“We are… I am… I _was_ Spider-man.”**

He _was_ Spider-man. Then he’d died here on this shitty planet much too far from home. 

Died and apparently been reborn as... 

**“We’re an Avenger.”**

He'd more than earned that title now. Even Mr. Stark agreed.

**_An Avenger?_ **

_Yes, a Protector. A Hero. Right wrongs, save people, punish the guilty?_

**_Yessss! Can do those things! And sspiderss?_**

_Uh… tiny Earth creature? It bit me. Normally that would be bad but its venom made me strong._

**_Venom?_**

_Yeah, spiders have venom._

**_Venom… like that._**

Peter found he kind of liked that too. 

**“Yes… We are Venom.”**

Venom took a moment to study (and flex) in front of their reflection. 

Peter knew he shouldn't be standing around gawking at his own reflection when the fate of the galaxy was at stake, but the changes were just so shocking. 

They were _big,_ they had _fangs._ Peter looked down at his now black clawed hands and swallowed at the sight of Chitauri blood. 

**_We look good._** The symbiote insisted, mercifully distracting Peter from his thoughts on whether he should feel bad for not feeling bad for maybe severely maiming the alien assholes who tried to kill him. _Again._

**“You think so?”**

**_Strong. Protect Peter and Peter’s friends now?_**

**“Yes,"** Peter agreed. **"And all the innocent people Thanos the Purple Prune would murder. _We protect innocentsss._ ” **

Damn, their current muscle mass was almost on par with the Hulk.

But while a drastic change, Peter didn’t necessarily consider it a bad thing. 

From what he’d seen so far it didn’t affect his speed or agility any and from the sound of it the Avengers needed more heavy-hitters up there considering last he’d heard the Hulk couldn’t Hulk at the moment.

It was shocking, yeah, as the effects of the spider-bite had been shocking, but he could adapt. 

_They would adapt._

Their reflection displayed a feral, sharp-toothed grin. 

**“Alright, let’s do this.”**

***

Sweat rolled down his face inside his helm as Iron Man traded blows with a fearsome space orc. 

The Avengers were losing and losing badly. 

Banner couldn’t Hulk, the others were quickly being overwhelmed, and worst of all he'd lost sight of Peter.

(Forget Thanos, May Parker was going to kill him.) 

But just when all hope seemed lost, the tide of the battle swiftly changed when another unknown had entered the fray. At first Tony had feared that the terrifying, snarling black monster was another member of the Black Order but it soon became apparent that whatever it was, at least it was on their side or at least Tony hoped it was on their side, because something up ahead was tossing the Titan’s shock troops around with worrying ease. 

Tony Stark just about had a heart attack when the big, black monster bounced up to him with all the enthusiasm of a golden retriever. 

**“Hey, Mr. Stark, are you okay?”**

“Holy shit… _Peter?!_ “

 **“Yeah, it’s us, I mean _me._ ”**

“ _Jesus, kid!_ You know I have a heart condition.” 

Tendrils of black withdrew from the creature’s head to reveal that it was, indeed, Peter. 

“Sorry about that, Mr. Stark.” 

The tendrils quickly covered his head again when a laser beam ripped by close enough to singe Peter’s hair. 

They had to pause their conversation then as the battle was still happening and they were pinned down on all sides. 

Tony watched in disbelief as the too-muscular form of his protégé effortlessly tossed an oncoming, space tank into the Mad Titan’s legions. 

“ _Holy shit!_ Puberty hits like a train wreck.” 

**_“Ha!”_**

“Where have you been?! What the hell happened?! What happened to your suit?” 

**“Uh…”**

“…Are you okay?” 

Peter swallowed. **“…Can we focus on the fighting here? We’ll explain later, promise.”**

_“…We?”_

**_“Lookout!”_** They snarled, pushing Iron Man out of the way from another volley of space lasers. 

“Don’t think this conversation is over, young man.”

 **“Of course not.”**

*** 

“Now Peter, want to tell me what’s going on?” Tony hissed as they got a moment of reprieve and now were sneaking around the Titan’s base (though the symbiote considered Tony’s movements in the metal armor too noisy to truly be considered “sneaking.” Peter hadn’t noticed Tony being particularly loud but then the symbiote was apparently more sensitive to sound.) 

**“Uh… we… uh, I…”** Peter had the symbiote pull back from his head when he could tell that it was making Stark uncomfortable. “I made a friend?”

“A friend?”

“Er… I’ve got an alien inside me?” 

“Are you telling me you’ve been _body snatched?!_ ”

“No! No, that’s not what this is! We… uh, I was fighting over well… did you know Thanos got that whole Hunger Games Battle Arena set up to his Lady Death? Seriously, why call it 'Battleworld' when it’s not even a…” 

“Peter, focus please?"

“Uh…” 

“…Maybe it’s like Disneyworld?” 

Peter snorted.“Yeah, for the Purple Thumb’s Deathcult. Anyway uh, long story short, we… I mean I fell through the floor, discovered Venom, uh the symbiote, that’s what we called ourselves, was being kept imprisoned down there, helped it… _him?_ Escape and now he’s been helping me.” 

“You trust him?”

“…yeah.”

“…okay.” 

***

It was Peter and his newfound powers that finally broke the Avengers through the onslaught, black tendrils lashed out, and flinging legions of Chitauri away. 

“Nice job, kid.”

Peter grinned and Tony tried not to let the shark fangs bother him. 

***

Peter couldn’t help but be happy with this recent turn of events. 

Sure, he’d had his misgivings about the symbiote at first but, well, it certainly was growing on him—no pun intended. 

He… _they_ were in the big leagues now, a true _Avenger,_ fighting for the fate of the galaxy. 

Mr. Stark was proud of them. 

Naturally it was at this high point that a certain sentient prune with some fancy bling snapped his fingers. 

Then everything was wrong. 

***

 **“Mr. Stark… we don’t feel so good.”**

“Peter?! _What’s happening?_ ” 

**“We think… they got me too—”**

Peter let out an ear-splitting, terrified scream and fell to his knees. 

He was, quite literally, falling apart; his body turning to ash and dust... 

And then it wasn't. 

And then the pain and the feelig of disintegration began anew. 

Peter only relented in his screaming when he realized that the loud noise was hurting his Other. 

Peter whined even as the symbiote worked tirelessly on putting him back together. Just like it had before.

It hurt _so much._

The symbiote covered him completely from head to toe, containing him—trying to keep every bit of him from disintegrating and flying away—healing him, knitting every piece, every cell back together. 

When Peter came back to himself Mr. Stark was there, holding him still. 

**"Are we... whole? Yes… yes… We’re good. We’re good now… We mean, it _hurts_ but we’re whole.”**

“Peter, what the hell was that?!” 

**“Something just tried to kill us.”**

“The symbiote?” 

**“No! No, Mr. Stark, the symbiote saved me. _Is_ saving me,” ** The creature-that-was-Peter’s voice was rough from pain and screaming. **“Whatever that was, it’s still happening, it’s _still_ trying to kill us. We’re just regenerating faster now than it can rip up apart.”**

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat at the implications. 

Peter was _still in pain._ And… 

**“So, uh, we don’t think it’s wise to put the symbiote away right now. We’re sorry, Mr. Stark. We know you don’t like this face very much but if my symbiote relents we probably won’t have one at all.”**

To their surprise, Tony hugged them tighter, even though they were currently (stuck) in Venom form. 

“It’s no problem kid.” 


	2. Chapter 2

Peter accompanied Stark back as they searched for any other survivors, his symbiote keeping him together and somewhat numbing the pain. They weren’t sure if the attempted disintegration was receding any but they knew they didn’t dare let up if they didn’t want to turn to ashes—a fate that seemed to have been shared by at least half their numbers. But on the bright side the symbiote was getting better at regenerating him with each attempt to wipe him from existence—each time they were getting stronger, becoming more inured to the pain.

So far it seemed Peter was the only one to survive what was being called the Snap—and it was all thanks to the symbiote. As far as Peter was concerned Venom had more than earned his keep. He could have just left him and found another host, one that wasn’t dying… 

**_Won’t abandon you, Peter._**

**_Won’t abandon you either,_** Peter promised. 

***

Upon seeing them Nebula shouted something and though Peter didn’t know the exact meaning, from the inflection it was undeniably a curse word.

 **“Hey! What’s your problem, Blue Lady?!”** Peter demanded when she aimed her laser canon right at their head. 

“That is a _Klyntar!_ ” 

**“Uh… a _what?!_ ”**

“That’s _Peter!_ ” Stark intervened. 

“Wait … _Quill?_ ” 

“No, the _other_ Peter. My so—my _protégé._ Uh, I mean, Spider-man— _What the hell is a Klyntar?_ ” 

“I heard about them on Xandar. They are foul beasts—”

 **“Hey, he’s friendly!”** Peter insisted. 

_“Parasites!”_

**_“No!”_** The symbiote manifested a construct out of Peter’s shoulder that resembled an eel or a snake with too many fangs. **“We’re not like that! Never hurt Peter! Won’t let you hurt Peter either!”** The creature growled while putting some of its substance physically between Peter and the weapon, turning itself into a living shield. 

“Okay, everyone calm down,” Tony interjected, before glancing at his protégé. “You know, you failed to mention that.” 

**“Because we’ve never heard of that? Neither of us have ever heard of that keytar thing."**

_"Klyntar."_

**"Whatever. We… _I_ really don’t think it wants to eat me, or control me or… or whatever else, Mr. Stark. Venom has been nothing but helpful!”**

“…It’s okay, I believe you, kid.”

 **“Yeah, but _they_ don’t,”** Peter muttered at the suspicious and hateful looks the aliens were sending them. The symbiote snarled, disturbingly using Peter’s face to do so. **“Look, my symbiote had plenty of chance to do… whatever you’re thinking about before back when I was wounded—”**

“Wait, _wounded?_ ”

Peter cringed—he’d forgotten they hadn’t told Mr. Stark that detail yet. 

**_“Dying,”_** the symbiote elaborated. 

**“Not helping, buddy,”** Peter muttered. 

**_“Am too helping! We bond and heal! Make not dead!”_**

“Wait, let me get this straight… you _died twice?!_ ” 

**“Uh…”**

Tony sighed and then, addressing the symbiote. “You saved him _twice._ ”

**“More. Thanos-mean-kids very stabby. And of course saved Peter. Peter host. Peter… _friend._ ”**

“…Not a very articulate speaker, is he?”

**“Hey! He just began learning English like half a day ago!”** Peter defended **“Cut us some slack!”**

“Peter…” the blue lady grimaced at the beast, and it's mouth full of grinning fangs. “Take that awful thing off.” 

**“Can’t if we don’t want to disintegrate. We got Snapped.”**

Another of the aliens that Peter didn’t know gasped at that. “…Wait, are you saying you _survived_ The Snap?”

**“What? Like it’s hard?”**

“Peter…” Stark cautioned. 

**“Yeah! We survived. That so-called ‘horrible Klyntar’ you guys were all yelling at us about is keeping me alive so… uh… _suck on that!_ ””**

Stark buried his face in his hands. 

*** 

Whatever that whole Snap thing was, it was over and they had won. 

But their victory did not come without a price.

“ _Holy shit._ Peter, how are you still conscious?!” 

Stark had insisted on having a look at what was going on with them as soon as they were able. 

They’d somehow managed to procure the equipment to do so, despite the current state of the galaxy. 

It probably had a lot to do with the fact that their alien allies were curious too, about the only survivor of The Snap. 

Venom sighed. They knew all this—they lived with the chronic pain, the absolute agony caused by the repeated disintegrations and regeneration. They knew what the charts would say, and what they meant. He shouldn’t be able to talk right now, let alone be able to sit up, or be conscious, or walk, or retain some tiny modicum of sanity. 

Hell, they knew Peter shouldn’t even be _alive_ right now. 

That was all thanks to the symbiote. 

Peter knew he was fortunate to even be alive but sometimes… sometimes it didn’t feel like it. (All the time. He was in blinding, white hot agony _all the time._ ) It felt like someone (probably that Purple Turd) had replaced his blood with lava. 

Still screaming wasn’t socially acceptable in most places nor would it change things for them. They’d had enough of screaming on that barren planet. If anything screaming would only make things so much worse for them, especially for his Other who was trying so desperately to keep him from falling apart. 

And Mr. Stark was already so worried—he was there when The Snap caught Peter. He was there before the symbiote regeneration kicked in and thought they were dying in his arms… 

So Peter stayed strong for them and kept the screams on the inside. 

Peter forced a smile for Mr. Stark’s benefit though given that they were currently sporting a mouth full of shark-like fangs it probably didn’t have the reassuring effect he was hoping for. Because of Peter’s condition the symbiote had to be out and active at all times because the symbiote was the only thing holding them together—they still couldn’t change back without risking disintegration. 

**“As you know, my symbiote is attached to my nervous system and it helps dull pain responses,”** Peter said dully. **“I _do_ feel it. It _hurts,_ Mr. Stark. It hurts really bad but… but not as bad as it _should._ ” **

“You know it’s integrated with you on a cellular level, right?” Stark began gently. 

Peter nodded, he… they already kind of knew this.

“You know that means you wouldn’t be able to separate… even if you wanted to.” 

**“Well…** ” Peter laughed, **“can’t say we… uh _I_ was expecting to have to go through this level of commitment quite so soon,”** he joked. 

It was a coping mechanism. 

They reserved the right to have a nervous breakdown later. 

The symbiote poked an eel like head-construct out of its host’s shoulder for the benefit of both Peter (who sometimes needed a break from all the head-talk) and Peter’s friends who couldn’t hear them talking in their head. **_“Why scared?”_**

Peter shook his head. **“It’s not you, buddy. We, I… well, _Peter_ just had senior prom and, uh _really screwed up_ my last relationship and, um...” **

Nebula rolled her eyes. “Oh for Death’s sake, it’s a _parasite!_ It’s not like you’re married to it.” 

**_“Symbiote,”_** they corrected automatically, **“Parasites hurt the host. This is mutualism. That is, ours is a mutually beneficial relationship— _uh…_** ” 

Peter exchanged awkward “looks” with the serpentine construct on his shoulder. 

**“Word for this is… _‘awkward?’_ ” **

**“Yeah, uh… that’s the word. That's the word you’re looking for. Alright, uh _look_ … It’s just… this is a really big change for me. That’s all. Just… give me time, okay?”**

**_“…Okay.”_ **

***

Venom lay in bed lightly tossing a rubber ball up against the ceiling. 

It would bounce with a satisfying thunk, they’d catch it. 

Throw it again. 

Repeat. 

Don’t think about the bodies. 

Or the fields of ashes. 

Or any number of the horrifying sights, smells, or sounds experienced within the last few days on the (they-lost-track of how many) planets they’d scouted. 

The ball they were now idly tossing they’d found in some of the rubble of a dead city on a dead planet. 

A child’s toy. 

The child was nowhere to be found but there were more ashes. 

**_Innocence, snuffed out._**

The bed they were lying in probably once belonged to the other Peter—the one who used to own this ship before them. 

But it didn’t matter.

None of it mattered now. 

They were tired.

They were both tired but the last few days they’d been working tirelessly, in perfect harmony, with none of the Klyntar monster problems that Nebula and some of the other aliens seemed to think they’d have.

Seemed to think they _were_. 

**_“Liz no understand,”_** the symbiote spoke to him, suddenly. 

**“Huh?”**

**_“Other day. You say you have problem with relationship? With Liz...?"_**

_Oh no._

Peter didn't catch the ball this time and it hit them in the face. 

Was the symbiote trying to give him dating advice? This could only end poorly.

**_"...But we different.”_ **

**“Uh… yeah buddy, you’re very different,”** Peter replied warily, wondering if his symbiote was taking the whole ‘relationship’ thing seriously or if this was just another matter of something not translating well linguistically or culturally with a body-sharing alien that apparently had no concept of sex or gender. 

**_“Liz not know you. We know Peter. Know Spider-man. HERO. Help people. We help. Be hero. Together.”_**

**“That’s… good. Yeah, that’s really good,”** Peter amended. Venom seemed to be an aberration if any of Nebula’s or the other alien’s unfairly prejudicial stories were to be believed. Still good behavior ought to be encouraged. **“Hey, uh… just out of curiosity would you get jealous if we dated someone else?”**

_Not that we have many dating prospects at the moment,_ Peter thought moodily, _now that we’re stuck as a giant monster. Liz wasn’t talking to me, she was out of my league even before…_

Peter knew he shouldn’t dwell on it. 

High school drama definitely shouldn’t be their top priority right now anyway, what with Thanos fucking over the universe, but hey, he was a teenager. 

The symbiote thought about that for a moment, seemingly confused by the question. 

**_“…You my host. Want Peter to be happy. You happy make me happy.”_**

**“Okay… cool, uh… glad we cleared that up.”**

_Dammit, what’s wrong with me?_

 _What a stupid thing to think about because, oh yeah, there’s also the small matter of almost everyone being fucking dead!_

The scale was just so difficult to contemplate—even with the Klyntar’s expanded consciousness—and they tended to just… _forget_ about it for long stretches of time when they just focused on the now. 

They did whatever was required of them to help out Mr. Stark and the team—be it fighting angry mobs, pulling survivors from rubble on various planets, or just helping with ship repairs—it helped to distract things for a while.

Then the reality would hit them. 

Thanos had killed half the universe. 

So yeah, they knew the whole high school drama thing was bullshit and should be ranked as the very least of their problems. 

Yet, sometimes his mind would return to those familiar pathways, allowing them to escape for a time dwelling on the vast scope of misery around them even though they always felt incredibly guilty afterwards. 

Because what would Liz say if she knew? 

Would Ned think Venom was cool or would he be freaked out by them now? 

It’s not like they could go back to high school like this, could they?

But on the bright side it looked like they were going to be a full-time Avenger after all… 

Hell, they already were. 

Because it was all hands on deck. 

_Because everyone was dead._

He’d think of that again and then all his problems would seem so trivial. Even though now they knew his life… _their life_ would never be the same. 

(But he shouldn’t even _be_ alive. Why should he be alive when so many had died?)

It would usually be at this point that his symbiote would scold him, scared and worried for him. Such negative self-talk clearly upset his Other, so Peter tried to avoid thinking it, but he just couldn’t help it at times. It’s not like he didn’t have a guilt complex before all this. 

***

**“So… What’s the plan now, Mr. Stark?”**

It was always disconcerting to see the giant monster bouncing up to him with such enthusiasm but Stark knew he should take it as a comfort that Peter was still in there. 

“The plan now… is you and Snarly are hopping in this ship and heading straight back to Queens.” Stark said, indicating the smaller, one or two-man jumper style shuttle they’d procured on one of the devastated worlds they’d visited in search of survivors and supplies. 

As predicted, Peter didn’t take the news very well. 

**“ _WHAT?!_ Mr. Stark! _We can help!_ ”**

“Peter… _You almost died!_ ”

**“Yeah, but we’re better now, really! We’re stronger now and—”**

“And the symbiote is the only thing keeping you alive and together—that means you could _still_ die if your bond is at any point disrupted. Anyway, this ship is pre-programmed to take you back to Earth…”

 ** _“Can drive,”_** the symbiote informed them both, again forming a serpentine construct out of Peter’s shoulder to communicate (rather than taking over Peter’s vocal chords again because that had seemed to really unsettle both Peter and his friends the one time it did it.)

 **“You know how to fly a spaceship?”** Peter exclaimed.

****_“Of course!”_** **

Stark cleared his throat.

 **“That doesn’t matter anyway, ‘cause we’re not going,”** Peter said stubbornly.

“Peter… _please._ You almost died and it was my fault.”

**“It wasn’t…”**

“Peter…” Stark sighed. “I’m not trying to punish you! I just don’t want you getting hurt!” 

**“Stark… we’re going to get hurt, regardless. You know you _can’t stop uss._ ”**

Stark sighed. “While I do hope you won’t encounter any action… There are strategic reasons for this decision. You have been helping, Peter. A lot. Even with your condition, you are one of our heaviest hitters now aside from myself and Thor and we need Thor here and… well, someone needs to protect the Earth.”

 ** _“Oh…”_** _In that case..._ They huffed a sigh. **“…Alright, we’ll go.”**

“I mean, I know it’s not as glamorous as space battles but… Oh, _you will?_ "

 **"We will."**

To be perfectly honest they were kind of anxious about what was happening on Earth, given what they'd already seen on other worlds.

 _We really need to get back to Queens... **Innocents there, friends, family...**_

Stark clapped them on the shoulder. "Thanks, kid.”

“Is it really wise to be sending a Klyntar to your Homeworld?” an unnamed alien Peter didn't know sniffed through its three nostrils. 

Stark rounded on the skeptical alien. “I trust Peter and so should you.”

_**Stark good friend.**_

_Yes, he is,_ Peter agreed.

They wanted to be there by his side, to protect him. But Stark was Iron Man and already had armor of his own, better than— (the symbiote poked him in annoyance at the direction of that thought) okay, just as good as anything the Klyntar could provide. And, as Peter explained to his companion, there was more than one way to protect and right now Stark needed to be protected from feeling anymore guilt over them and their choices. 

***

And so Peter returned to Earth with his Plus One, blissfully unaware of the galactic ramifications his continued existence had now caused. 

Despite the shattered infrastructure, the rumors spread quickly across the galaxy—that there was a Survivor, one had been caught up in the Snap and lived.

A Spider-Child from Earth with the aid of a Klyntar had defied the Will of Thanos. 

The tales spread, relentlessly as The Snap itself, and the Legend of The Survivor magnified with each telling.

As a direct result the scattered remains of The Nova Corps reached out to the Klyntar Federation for an alliance and overnight the Klyntar species had gone from being galactic pariahs to becoming the MVPs, invited to all the metaphorical parties now that the end seemed close at hand. Numerous beings arrived on their galactic doorstep, volunteering to be made hosts, hoping to have insurance should Thanos ever cull them again or hoping to become a legendary hero and spit in the Mad Titan’s eye, just like The Survivor—that symbol of hope, one of which on many worlds he was whispered of with near religious awe. 

Meanwhile “The Survivor” himself was blissfully unaware of his new status as a Space-Messiah. 

No they were a bit preoccupied when Peter returned (and Venom arrived) to what was now the smoldering remains of New York.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I thought this would be aa 3-shot but the characters had other ideas.

“I can’t believe you just risked all our lives over mascara!” 

“Oh excuse me for wanting to feel normal! To have some small sliver of my life back!” 

“Well, I hope you enjoy your smoky eye when we’re choking on the ash fields. And that’s even assuming the Scorbs don’t get us before we make it back to The Caravan.” 

“Of fuck off, Bet. And no one’s getting smoky eye, unless ashes in your face counts now.” 

“ _Lizard_ , don’t tell me that after all that you didn’t even get the kit?!” 

**“Hey, uh… was this what you were looking for? ...Sorry, we couldn’t help but overhear....”**

The group froze, startled at the sudden intrusion of a deep, rumbling voice that was straight out of nightmares, like thunder in the deep. It was the kind of voice one would be expecting to be accompanied by swirling fire and brimstone. The visual when they looked up wasn’t much better—the speaker seemed to be trying to stay mostly out of sight, hiding in the rafters of the ruined building they’d been walking by but what was visible in the shifting darkness was just so much prime “nope” and there was a glint of something sharp—knives, or maybe over-sized _fangs._

The coveted makeup kit was slowly lowered down to the group of survivors on a strange black rope, courtesy of the horror in the rafters. 

None of the group moved to take it and in fact each moved to grab their weapons with practiced ease. 

Venom just shrugged and gently dropped the makeup kit on the ground. 

At least there were no screams just yet—the group was eerily silent as weapons were drawn. They took that as a good sign. Maybe this was a group they could actually talk to. 

**“We come in peace,”** they tried and were greeted with a warning shot, or at least they assumed it was a warning shot given how wide it missed. **“We’re not going to hurt you!”** they promised. 

“You’ve been following us!” One of group accused. 

Venom chose to ignore the fact that the speaker was watching them warily and defensively clutching a foot-long knife. It was the sane response, all things considered. 

It was hard to tell the individual members of the group apart—they were all wearing heavy armor and their faces were covered with cloth wraps and goggles, probably to protect against the violent ash storms that frequently ravaged through the ruins of what once was New York. 

The stinging ash didn’t really bother Venom, but then they regarded bullet wounds as a mild inconvenience. The ash storms probably would be bothersome to someone without a symbiote’s armor and was limited to mere human’s skin. 

**“Not intentionally,”** they insisted. **“We just happened to be traveling in the same general direction and er… we hadn’t seen anyone else for a while, so—”**

“Maybe so, but that’s doesn’t explain why you’ve been _stalking us—_ ” 

**“Uh… we weren’t, _really._ Look, we’re just trying to get to Queens—”**

It was a journey Peter once could have made in his sleep, but Earth was a mess. They had traversed the ruined city where familiar sights had been transmogrified into a constant horror show—there were few remaining landmarks and reference points by which they could navigate the city. Peter knew from the ship’s GPS that this was the general vicinity of New York but it was all too easy to get lost when everything was in ruins and clogged with the ashes of the dead. 

“You _knew_ we were looking for the kit!”

The creature in the rafters flinched. **“You’re _loud_ , okay? We were just sleeping over there in the parking garage when we heard your argument from like _five blocks away_ —you know New York is not as noisy as it used to be.”**

“I told you guys you were being too loud,” another of the group hissed at the others.

“What _are_ you?”

“ _Betty!_ That’s rude!” 

“What, it’s a legitimate question? What if he’s with Thanos?” 

**“Oh _hell no!_ We’re not with that moldy prune! We—”**

“Wait, you just happened to overhear us and then you just _happened_ to go and get the makeup kit Lizard wanted?” 

**“Uh… _yeah?”_**

The group of humans exchanged looks.

The ruined remains of the shopping mall had been riddled with land mines and other booby traps by the Scorbs. They’d had to give it up as a bad job and they’d been lucky to escape with their lives. 

“Going to the mall is a _suicide mission!_ ”

**“Uh… We’re hard to kill,”** The monster seemed sheepish. **“Er… did you need anything else? We got some food too.”**

“Why? What do you want in return?” Demanded the one that Venom began thinking of as the leader asked suspiciously. 

**“Uh, nothing, really? It’s just… force of habit, we guess?”** They laughed bitterly to themselves. **“Guess we’re still trying to be a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man even if there is no more neighborhood.”**

“You’re no Spider-man!” Another of the gang shouted. 

The creature winced. 

(They knew things had changed, that _they_ had changed, but they hadn’t expected that to be quite so hurtful.) 

**“We promise we are! We just had some… _changes_ happen while we were up in space. Okay, we wouldn’t believe us either, but that’s not important. Have you guys seen any other people? Any other survivors? Anyone at all? Because you’re the first people we’ve encountered in ages and we’ve been travelling for miles and miles and—”**

“…It _does_ sound like Spider-man,” the one who had shouted before admitted with clear disbelief. 

**“…Do we know you?”**

“If you _are_ Spider-man, we’ve met before. Spider-man saved my life.” 

**“Oh. Uh… You’re welcome?”**

“Why are you hiding up there?”

**“…We just… kinda… wanted to talk to someone? But we didn’t want to scare you guys.”** They admitted. 

Peter suspected the group was in fact a gang of all girls, at least as far as they could tell but the gang seemed to be going out of their way to conceal that fact between the armor and the edgy codenames. There was “Bet” and “Lizard” and “Knives” and the leader “Captain Carnage” (whose real name was apparently “Gwen” as they had learned during the argument over the failed mall raid that could be heard from five blocks away). 

They’d debated how to approach the humans—or if they even should at all. 

They’d already ruled out just dropping down with a **_“Hello ladies”_** with their tongue wagging out—that probably wouldn’t be a great first impression and a very good way to get shot—especially since Earth had apparently gone all _Mad Max_ while Peter was away. Not that they were particularly worried about getting shot but they _were_ trying not to traumatize the humans with their presence. They were very conscious of the fact that they tended to scare people even when they didn’t mean to. The point was not to appear threatening. 

They feared they still hadn’t quite figured that out. 

“You’re being pretty scary by sneaking around like that, you know.” 

**“Trust me, being able to see us would not make it much better. Like we said, we’ve had some pretty big changes.”**

“Well don’t leave us in suspense—let’s see you then, Spidey.”

**“…Fine.”**

Venom nervously stepped into the light. 

They were worried the group might change their mind about talking to him once they saw him in full and then they’d be back to square one…

Well, not completely at square one. Now at least they knew there were other humans alive here, well beyond the crazy cannibals that had booby trapped the mall. 

That was more than they knew this morning. 

**_“Easy…”_** they muttered to themselves, trying to quell their own rising anxiety which in turn caused writhing tentacles to form and rise on their back in agitation. 

_(Hey, it’s not like talking to girls always ended in disaster **before** you became a giant monster.) _

_Okay, slowly. Slow movements. Try not to be threatening. Respect their space. Let them run if they feel the need… If they run, don’t try to stop them, we need to respect that. Also be ready to leap away if they have anything like a flamethrower or explosives on hand—_

**“So, uh… yeah. We’re part alien now…”** Venom said, allowing them to see him in full (and prepared to be shot at again.) 

They shifted self-consciously from their perch on the wall as he felt them staring. 

**“We’re called Venom now, by the way,”** they said, trying, and failing, to keep their obscenely long tongue in. 

“…You said you had food?” the leader asked after a long, awkward moment that seemed to stretch into eternity (and had had Peter kind of resenting that Venom wouldn't let him crumble to dust on the spot.) 

**“Uh… yeah. Just... um, let us go get it?”** they stammered out before leaping up the side of the building. 

As they bounded away they heard one of the group whispering to the others. (They were probably not meant to hear it but they did anyway.)

“Did you see that _tongue?_ ” 

"We're keeping him, right?" 

"Dibs."

"No way, Betty. I saw him first." 

_Wha—?_

The dulcet tones of their giggling followed them up as they carefully ascended the unstable ruins of the building. 

**_Don’t understand humans._**

_That makes two of us, buddy._

*** 

“Where’d you say you were headed again?” Captain Carnage… _Gwen_ asked. 

The offer of food had gone over well though Peter felt kind of bad about having previously eating all of the chocolates out prior to relinquishing his haul. They weren’t sure why, they felt a _need_ about that that they hadn’t felt about the other food. As far as they could tell, they didn’t require much to function, especially with the symbiote suppressing his appetite and dulling his pain receptors. They didn’t need to sleep much either. Or rather, the symbiote could keep them going while Peter slept which proved a godsend when traversing the ashy desert. 

As soon as they saw the chocolates, though, it was like they couldn’t help themselves. 

They were honestly quite embarrassed. 

**“Uh… Queens?”**

“Queens was destroyed,” Gwen hissed between clenched teeth.

**“Oh…”**

No wonder they couldn’t find their way back, even with the alien GPS on the shuttle. 

It must have been completely obliterated—

(And here they didn’t think there was any hope left to crush.) 

**“Uh… okay. Thanks anyway. Sorry to bother you,”** they stammered, bounding back up the ruined structure.

(They’d just discovered that even in this form they could, in fact, cry.) 

_“Wait…”_

_“Betty, no,”_ Gwen cautioned.

“Are you looking for someone?” 

Venom froze. **“Y-yeah,”** they said thickly. **“My aunt. And _my friendsss._ ”**

“…There were survivors!” 

The group collectively jumped when the creature dropped back down from five stories up and landed with the grace of a big cat. 

**“S-sorry,”** they cringed, they’d forgotten themselves in their enthusiasm. **“Uh, you said there were survivors? _Please._ We need to know. Have any of you seen a May Parker? Ned Leeds?”**

“…There were survivors from Queens. But, uh, I didn’t see anyone with um…” She gestured vaguely towards the monster and hoped it didn’t take offense. 

**“Oh yeah,”** they said, forcing out a self-conscious laugh. **“They wouldn’t look like us. We’re one of a kind, as far as we know. At least on this planet.”**

“Wait, did you say May… _Parker?_ ” Lizard interjected. 

Before they could answer or inquire further they were interrupted by a blaring of spider-sense.

“Oh no, _Scorbs!_ ”

Venom jumped in between the group and the incoming hails of gunfire, the symbiote forming a large shield.


	4. Chapter 4

So those were The Scorbs.

They weren't dressed that much differently from the current party, save they all had more bare skin exposed to the elements and each sported a highly visibly tattoo in the shape of a scorpion. 

Those were the same people Venom saw… _eating people._

And as horrible as that was, that wasn’t even the worst part of it. 

Peter knew they should be horrified, it _was_ horrifying, yet part of them now had nonhuman instincts and the smell had, to their shame, made their mouth water. 

The realization had made Peter want to go soak their head in a gallon of bleach. 

(For better or worse they hadn’t been able to find any bleach in the mall that the Scorbs had apparently booby trapped.) 

**"Well, come on then,"** Venom challenged after the attackers seemed to have exhausted their ammo firing against their shield. "

 **“HEY! Don’t eat them, eat us! We mean, eat me …Wait, that sounded— Aw, crap. We meant in a totally PG way, not in a… _ugh!_ ”** Peter groaned while knocking out bad guys with fists and tendril webs and claws. **“Whatever, you know, they can try, but _we’ll give them indigestion!_ ”**

_Seriously, V?_

**“…That, admittedly, sounded much cooler in our head.”**

"You _are_ a snack," smirked Knives. 

**"No, _they're_ snacks,"** the symbiote insisted, the innuendo flying right over their head, before charging right at and bowling over a group of their advancing foes. **“Okay, how about this one? _DYNAMIC ENTRY!_ ”** They roared before leaping at the remaining Scorbs and kicking one of them in the face. 

“Oh hey, _Naruto,_ ,” one of the Scorbs said before Venom knocked out. 

**“Oooh sorry, didn’t know you were another fan…”**

**_Really, Peter?_ **

**“Hey, I thought I was the only loser nerd left in existence—”** Venom’s tendrils sprouted from their back, arresting a man coming at them with a bat spiked with rusty nails. **“Okay, _not_ sorry about this one— _YEET!_ ”** They shouted, a tentacle toss flinging the attacking cannibal across the desert. 

There was a flaring of spider-sense and the sound of a gun being cocked behind them.

Peter froze, warring against his instincts. If they leapt away, it would hit the girls…

 ** _Don’t worry, we got this._** Venom assured him as the bullets were harmlessly absorbed into the symbiote’s skin with no apparent damage. 

**“Huh,”** Peter said before knocking the gunman out. 

Peter felt Venom chuckle in the back of his head. **_We can give them back too._**

Peter felt his (their?) own face contorting into a rictal, sharp-toothed grin. 

_You mean like… shooting them? With their own bullets?_

**_Yeah! We can totally do that! Wanna see?_**

_Woah, woah, woah. Let’s not do that!_

**_Why not?_** V asked, genuinely puzzled. 

_Er… It’ll make a big mess?_

**_Peter… have you seen this place?_**

_Yeah, I know. I get it! Things are in the toilet but that just means it’s all the more important not…_

**_What?_ **

_…To sink to their level. And I don’t want to, okay? It’s unnecessary. We’re beating them. We’ve got this. Sure, I mean, maybe if we there was no other option but we’ve got this. Dammit, there’s no need for Instakill!_

**_There is always that one pussy in the group not down with murder,_** Venom pouted. 

_How the hell did you get so well-versed in memes?_

**_From you, Peter, obviously. The jar on Battleworld did not have wi-fi._** Peter felt the symbiote’s annoyance even as they tossed another foe away. **_You know if we don’t kill them now, they’ll just be trouble for us later on._**

_Maybe, but we’re still not killing them._

**_Pussy._**

_Fine, I’m a pussy then. If that’s the way it’s going to be, than I guess you’re going to have to find a new host._

**_But… you’ll die._**

_Yeah. Guess I will._

**_Don’t want Peter to die._**

_Then stop trying to push me into murder!_ Peter snapped. 

The symbiote lapsed into a sullen silence. 

**_…not a pussy,_** the symbiote relented. **_Peter is… very brave._**

Peter wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that so he just concentrated on punching out a hulking, metal toothed Scorb who was brandishing a meat hook. 

**_…Don’t understand. We killed the Chitauri._**

Peter swallowed. Had they? For Peter it had all been a haze of adrenaline and bloodstained claws. 

_Well, these aren’t Chitauri, though, these are human beings!_

**_But, they’re BAD humans. You said so. Why was it okay with Chitauri and not humans?_**

_Well, Chitauri are aliens so…_

**_And only aliens are bad? Is that it, Peter?_**

Peter swallowed. 

_…I didn’t mean you, Venom. Obviously! Look… we’re getting off topic. We’ll do it if we have to, alright? To protect others, to protect Earth, but right now, we don’t have to. It’s not necessary now!_

It was true, together with their new friends Venom had made short work of the Scorbs; what with the girls returned fire and Venom gleefully “yeeting” the rest across the desert. 

(Peter could feel Venom pouting about how **_They got to shoot people!_** The symbiote sadly let the bullets they absorbed into their substance drop inertly into the sand at their feet.) 

**“Is everyone okay?”**

The girls shared a look, silently conferring amongst each other. 

Gwen sighed. “If you want to come with us… we can take you back to the Compound. There are other survivors from Queens there.” 

**“Really? _Thank you so much!”_**

**_Oh Peter… you are such a loser,_** the symbiote teased affectionately. 

***

About an hour of journeying with their new human friends, Venom wondered if they'd made a mistake. 

“Hey, you know if it’s a choice between food and makeup I’m going for the food, dumbass!” 

_“Skank.”_

_“Bitch.”_

_“Ho.”_

_**“Hey!”**_

Betty sighed and shook her head.”This is normal for them. They’re best friends, can’t you tell?” 

“You owe me after you ate _the last pizza roll in existence!_ ” Lizard accused. 

“I told you, that wasn’t me!” Gwen insisted; her words seemed to float across the grey, shifting sands. 

Venom shifted nervously, half-expecting another gang of Scorbs or other opportunists to ambush them but there was nothing. 

No one else seemed to be left alive in this corner of their broken world. 

Just as Peter was about to again fall into despair, his symbiote seemed to perk up at some sound in the distance. It almost sounded like… traffic? 

The group crested a dune to find an odd collection of vehicles loaded with people and supplies and far too many weapons pointed at them. 

“Oh hey, it’s our ride!” said Gwen. 

**“…It really is like _Mad Max Fury Road,_ huh?”**

“I’ve never seen that movie,” said Lizard. 

“Probably never will now. You might have noticed infrastructure was the first to go,” Betty explained. “Except for a few backup generators but that’s needed for like… more vital stuff. Life support, storing food and medicine…” 

**“Damn… no electricity. So no TV, no Internet. Libraries burnt to the ground—what do you guys do for fun anymore?”**

“ _Fun._ That’s precious.” 

Knives shrugged. “Fight to the death, mostly,” 

Peter got the sinking feeling she wasn’t joking. 

Before they could reach the convoy they were confronted by a warrior woman in red armor who stopped them at (sparking) spear-point. It wasn’t Chitauri but it was clearly some form of advanced tech. Venom was on guard but the others did not seem at all alarmed by this. 

“Oh hey, there you guys are! We thought we’d lost you—” Lizard began.

“Password,” demanded the guard. 

“Ayo… You know it’s us,” Betty huffed.

 _“Password,”_ Ayo insisted. 

“Fine... ‘Fuck ya chicken strips,’” Gwen dutifully recited. 

Ayo seemed unimpressed. “That was last week’s password.” 

“Oh _come on!_ ” 

Someone else approached them then from the Caravan. Peter didn’t know who she was but the rest of the group appeared visibly relieved to see her.

“Oh hey, the party’s all here!” 

Ayo gave a disapproving side-eye at the newcomer’s being there but remained stoically silent. 

She was about Peter’s age, she wore purple armor, somewhat similar to that of the guard, and had giant silver cannons strapped to her arms, decorated to resemble a pair of snarling big cats. 

(Peter idly wondered if any of the animals made it any better than the people did. It seemed unlikely given these last few days they hadn’t seen so much as a rat…) 

“‘Hey’ yourself, your worshipfulness,” snapped Lizard, “help us out here! You know we’ve been gone a week—” 

“Exactly, you’ve been gone for a week. You might have been compromised. You might be spies. Speaking of…” she turned and fired off one of her cannons, blasting a Scorb who had been lurking about a few dunes away, apparently listening in.

“Sorry about all that. Couldn’t have them learning the new password. Also did you do realize you’ve got an alien behind you?” She asked, casually pointing her cannons at Venom. 

**“Woah!”** Peter startled, putting their hands (claws) up, much to the symbiote’s internal whining. 

“It’s okay, he’s friendly!” Betty interjected. 

“So… I guess that means he’s with you then?” Cannon girl asked, reluctantly putting up her cannons. 

Venom barely held in a sigh of relief. 

The symbiote hadn’t at all liked the vibrations the canon blasts had produced, even when they weren’t aimed at them. It went without saying that getting hit by those things would not be a good idea. 

**“Nice to meet you. We’re Venom by the way,”** They said, offering their hand to shake on impulse, forgetting that they were currently sporting massive talons. **“Who are you?”**

“None of your damn business,” She snapped, brushing past them and ignoring the outstretched claws which, Peter realized with a sigh, was probably just as well. “At least tell me you got the food.” 

“Yeah we got the food, but the mall was booby trapped. Venom got it for us. We wouldn’t have been able to get it without him. So no, he isn’t just another mouth to feed.”

Cannon girl sighed. “I did not say that.” 

**“We know it’s a rather large mouth but we swear we won’t impose—”** Peter said, trying for humor. 

Cannon girl seemed to chuckle before she caught herself and began walking away. 

For a moment they just stared at her retreating figure. 

**_Pretty._**

Peter wasn't sure if that thought had originally come more from him or from Venom but they immediately felt like a creep. 

Peter felt at least marginally better knowing he wasn’t alone in his ogling—Venom was especially fascinated by her necklace, particularly how it resembled a collection of metal fangs. It almost resembled their symbiosis (when protecting but not subsuming the host) but they didn’t sense another—she wasn’t Klyntar. Peter did agree the necklace was cool though. And she had really rad hair—her braids were coiled up in two buns which Peter thought somewhat resembled Princess Leia but Peter was sure that wasn't the only reason she seemed so familiar... 

**“Wait a minute… do we know you?”**

Cannon girl cringed. “No, you don’t.” 

**“Yeah we do! You’re Claws, right? Claws_I-18? Your Vines are legendary! _‘Oh, what has western science done?!’_ ”**

A slow smile spread across “Claws’s” face. 

“Oh, I like you. So… Venom, huh?” 

**“Yep. That’s us.”**

“So _edgy._ ” 

Venom snorted at the additional vine reference. 

“Not to be rude, but, uh, what exactly… are you?”

 **“Half human, half alien. Full-time stan of your vines,”** Peter intoned, it was yet another reference to one of Claws I_18’s vines. 

Venom and Claws shared a laugh to the confusion or eye-rolling of the others present. 

**‘’My brother is very serious’ and then _BOOM!_ Right into the wall!”**

Her face fell. “Y-yeah.” Claws forced out a laugh but Venom didn’t miss the look of pain that flashed across her face before it was masked. 

**_Why’s she sad?_**

_Don’t know buddy. There’s plenty to be sad about what with, well. Everything. Maybe something happened with her brother—_

**_Oh… He’s dead, isn’t he?_** the symbiote bluntly stated what should have been obvious. 

Peter felt like kicking himself. **_“Sorr—”_**

“Are you sure you’re not that Spider-boy from YouTube?” Claws asked abruptly, mercifully changing the subject. 

**“Uh… Spider- _man_ , actually. And yeah. That was us… uh, _me._ ”**

_“Really?_ What’s with the Edgelord look?”

 **“Well, end of the world, you know,”** they said through a forced grin. They were again aiming for levity but it came out rather tightly. **“It seemed appropriate. We go by Venom now, by the way.”**

“Venom, huh? Ah, that’s so edgy, Spider-boy.”

 **“It’s Spider- _man,_ ”** Peter corrected again.

Claws grinned and pointed right at their hulking shape, “Spider-boy.”

They couldn’t decide if she was either refreshingly unafraid or just lacking any apparent sense of self-preservation. 

**_We should protect this one, Peter, I like her._**

_So you can both gang up on me, is that it?_

**“It’s Spider-man,"** Peter insisted again. **"Or Venom. We are Venom.”**

"I thought you were American?" 

**“Ooh! Nice reference! But please don’t try to distract us.”**

“Not my fault you’re easily distractible.”

**“We are Venom, but also Spider-man. So… Spider-Venom? Or we suppose just Peter is fine too.”**

“Nah, I think I’ll just call you Spider-boy until you figure it out.”

Venom somehow managed to convey the fact that they were rolling their eyes despite the lack of any visible pupils. **“Whatever, Claws.”**

Venom's attention snapped back to the group they'd been traveling with when one of the girls made a strangled sound. Peter cringed. Honestly, they had kind of forgotten they were there. The others were staring, all seemed bemused by their banter. Peter wasn't sure why. He just found Claws easy to talk to... 

“Wait…Peter? _Peter Parker?!_ ” 

The traveler they'd known as "Lizard" now had their full attention. 

_**“W-what?!”** _

One by one “Lizard” removed the protective scarves from her face and lifted up her goggles. 

It was only then that Peter realized who “Lizard” actually was. 

**_“Liz Allan?!”_**

He hadn’t even recognized her. 

He’d travelled with her for days and he hadn’t even… 

To be fair she was wrapped head to toe in survival gear.

And they’d both changed, like, _a lot._

He was literally seeing through different eyes and as for Liz, well, even the way she carried herself was different. She wasn’t just a high school student anymore, in fact, none of them were. 

They were all survivors, circumstances molding them into something fierce and hard. 

Peter, for his part, had felt he’d had no choice but to move on. He had more pressing issues than high school and Liz had moved out of his life (and he’d presumed out of New York) several months before the Second Alien Invasion even began. Then there’d been his going up into space, being possessed by an alien, fighting Thanos, dying, coming back to life, and watching the universe fall into ruin thanks to the purple turd. Save for brief moments of feeling sorry for himself he hadn’t really been thinking of Liz at all. (Which sounded terrible, they knew, but there was only so much horror they could process…) 

But now Liz was _here._

She _knew who he was_ (knew he was Spider-man). 

She knew what he’d _done._

**_“…Oh shit.”_ **

“Peter, you _asshole!_ ” Liz Allan shouted, in between lunging at them. 

Peter darted away. 

**“Sorry. We’re sorry! _(RRRRR! Why are we apologizing?)_ Because we… _I_ screwed up, okay? I’m a garbage human being! Can we keep this in our head please?”**

“Oh, well, this oughta be good, what did Spider-boy do?” “Claws” smirked, leaning forward on her massive cannons, fishing for gossip. It was such a surreal “high school” moment that if this wasn’t a post-apocalyptic hellscape, Peter could imagine her sarcastically popping gum right about now. 

“This _asshole_ was supposed to take me out to Homecoming. Instead he was out getting my father arrested!” 

_“OH!”_ Claws exclaimed, shooting them both a knowing look. 

Venom winced. **“That wasn’t the plan.”**

“But it’s what you _did!_ ” 

**“Liz, we’re very sorry.”**

“Worst date ever!” 

**“Yeah,”** they sighed. **“We know.”**

It’s not like Peter himself wasn’t embarrassed about the whole thing. 

In fact, now would be a great time for the ash beneath their feet to open up, swallowing them whole…

 ** _No sinking in the ground. Won’t allow it,_** the literal minded symbiote growled in his head. 

**“Sorry.”**

“Is that all you can say, Spider-boy?” Claws asked with obvious mirth. 

**_“Sor—”_**

They flinched again when they saw the pity on her face. Peter knew he didn’t deserve that much. 

It was a shitty situation all around. He had hurt her. He hadn’t meant to, but he had hurt her all the same. 

Just the same, if given a chance to do it all over, he’d do it all again—he just couldn’t turn a blind eye to what Toombs was doing even though it had meant losing any chance he had with Liz. 

Even if it sometimes it seemed like nothing mattered anymore. 

Since Thanos came along it sometimes seemed like the entire universe was now in a race to the bottom—on the bad days it felt like he was the only one who was still even trying to do the right thing and the only one who ever ended up paying for it. 

“Peter… I really don’t think it’s going to work out between us.” 

**“Yeah, we know… We mean… we’re sorry,”** Venom agreed, probably too quickly.

It was probably the symbiote’s emotions on the matter bleeding through. Peter knew they didn’t like Liz very much; either because the symbiote saw her as a threat somehow or they didn’t like that Peter was feeling sad over their breakup—probably both. 

The symbiote didn’t understand all the nuances of life on Earth yet. They understood “Liz hurt Peter” so they didn’t like Liz. (And… that was a problem. The symbiote could be overprotective and he feared it might have been inclined to hurt Liz because of it if Peter had not already, repeatedly told them a very firm _“No”_ whenever the topic of Liz or Flash or any of the other painful memories associated with high school came up. (Yeah, Flash was a jerk but he didn’t deserve whatever Venom had in mind. That was quite disproportionate.) 

At the time the symbiote had claimed to understand but just the same Peter tried to put some distance between them and Liz now that her identity had been revealed. 

He’d patiently explained to V that Liz “hurting him” was not her fault. Also that feeling sad over a break-up was not the same as wanting her back. 

It just… wouldn’t work. 

He’d been irresponsible. He shouldn’t have gotten into a relationship when he literally did not have the time for her. Maybe if he’d waited—gotten his shit together, figured out an optimal school-life-Spider-man balance. Maybe if he’d _made_ the time for her, like he’d wanted to. 

(And maybe if her dad wasn’t terrorizing the city…)

But _no_ , that would make too much sense. Of course he had to just jump right in and screw everything up. Maybe things would have worked out for them in college even though that had felt like _forever_ away but he’d never know now—that ship had sailed.

It probably wouldn’t have ever happened anyway, there would be no college now—not with the current state of affairs. The teachers were most likely dead or in hiding, the schools just a crumbling, hollow shell.

“…You know he’s not responsible for your father’s choices, right?” 

Peter looked up from where he’d been studying the ashy dirt, surprised at that anyone was speaking in his defense, let alone _Claws_. Vine references aside, Peter hadn't thought she liked him very much. 

“I know that. But he is responsible for _his._ ” 

**“Look… we know we… _I_ hurt you. It wasn’t my intention but… that doesn’t matter.”**

“Peter…”

 **“And I truly am sorry. You have every right to hate us, to hate _me,_ for what we— _I_ did to you, and to your family. We’d understand if you never wanted to see us again. But, we, I… _I_ want to make it up to you!”** Peter flinched at the look of dismay that flashed across her face. **“No, I mean, not like that! Just… _What Peter is trying to say is that we would count ourselves fortunate if we could just earn your forgiveness, so we might still be friends.”_**

Liz looked visibly relieved. “I—I’ll think about it.” 

**“Thank you.”**

_And thank you, buddy, for the save._

Peter thought to his symbiote, once they got a moment of reprieve from the others. 

**_You’re welcome._ **

_But like damn, when did you get so articulate?_

**_You might have noticed, Peter, we’re a fast learner._ **

_Yeah, but how?!_

**_We learn from you, of course._ **


End file.
